Cherry Ripe Icecream

We almost ran out of fuel near Peachester, returning from a late summer weekend at the beach, so stopped at a fruit shop for some fresh lychees as a pick-me-up. They also made gelati in yummy flavours and we needed that - the boys chose Cherry Ripe. There was a lot of discussion on the ingredients, so over the following weekends D experimented with making our own and this is the latest, closest version of deliciousness.

~Cherry Ripe Icecream~

1. Make the cherry swirl :
1 kg frozen pitted cherries, cut in half
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tab brandy or choice of liqueur
1 teaspoon gelatine
Heat the cherries, sugar, water and brandy until cherries are cooked. strain off the cherries and reduce the liquid by half. Stir through the gelatine to dissolve and set aside to cool in fridge.

2. When the cherry mix is cold, make the icecream.
Beat the following in a mixmaster until smooth and thickened :
600ml cream
1 tin condensed milk
250g cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3. Fold through the icecream mix :
1 cup dessicated coconut
180g packet Cherry Ripe chocolates, cut into small pieces
168g packet Flake chocolate, crumbled (maybe try grated dark chocolate instead)

4. Swirl the cold cherry mix through the icecream mix.

5. Pour into a container and freeze. Drizzle melted dark chocolate over the top and serve.

Cherry Almond Cake

This came from a card sent to me by a friend. I've been wanting to make it for ages and we went to a friend's place for dinner on the weekend, so I didn't need any further excuse. It's quite easy and is very rich - lovely for a treat. I made half and put in a 20cm tin and it served 8 - 10, used the left over cherries for serving.

...Cherry Almond Cake...

You need:
250g butter
500g caster sugar
6 large eggs
1 tspn vanilla essence
400g plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
200g ground almonds
400g strained (pitted) preserved or tinned cherries

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 if fan forced). Prepare a 24cm tin by greasing and flouring sides and putting baking paper on the bottom.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and essence in the large bowl of a mixmaster and beat until sugar dissolved (5 - 10 min depending on softness of butter). Turn off mixmaster and fold through flour and almonds by hand, then last of all cherries - just enough so they're fairly evenly spread. Pour into tin and bake for 55 - 60 mins (about 45 min if making half).

Serve with extra cherries, cherry syrup drizzled over and cream.